Like I'm Breathing Underwater
by heyasass
Summary: Emily's been selected to partake in a six-month, intensive swimming training camp that will prepare her for the big time. Of course, there's always a downside - she has to room with the bitchy, judgmental Paige, with whom no one can get along. Can Emily crack the tough shell surrounding her? AU, Pailey. A doesn't exist!
1. Roommate From Hell

For the record, I'm pretty sure a swimming training camp for six whole months doesn't exist. But you can all overlook that, can't you? :) All you need to know is that there's a lot of swimmers in one place, and they all train, or when they're not training, work out, eat, sleep, yadda yadda. It may be a far-fetched idea but eh. I don't care :)

PS. In this story, A does not exist. Thank God. It's just Pailey and (later) goodness and hopefully fluffiness at times. Yay! Hope you all like!

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Like I'm Breathing Underwater

Chapter 1: Roommate From Hell

Emily Fields sighed as she leaned against the side door of her car, a new black Range Rover that had been a good luck and goodbye gift from her mom and dad. Her eyes wandered to the entrance of the place she'd be living for the next six months – it was huge; a beautiful mess of ivy-covered buildings that all seemed to be concentrated around the most important feature, the Olympic pool. Emily couldn't believe she was here, even after all her hard work and effort. She'd been swimming since she was a little kid, but going elite had never popped into her head until a year ago, and now she was at a training camp, the final step before the big time. Her dreams were coming true.

She flexed her long, tanned limbs and made her away around to the trunk of the car, flicking the button on her keys to unlock it. Emily hauled out her bags, with enough stuff to last her the rest of her lifetime, and stared blankly at Camp HQ before her. Where the hell was she supposed to go?

Out of nowhere, it seemed, a perky blonde woman tapped her on the shoulder. Her name tag said Samara. "Lost?" she asked succinctly, a questioning look in her blue eyes.

Emily pursed her lips in a semblance of a smile and nodded shyly. "Yeah," she shrugged. "My name is Emily Fields," she peered over to the clipboard that Samara was holding.

The blonde checked off her name and nodded. "Walk with me, Emily," she gestured, and Emily broke into a fast walk, lugging her suitcases behind her. Suddenly, she felt very out of place, as other people started to mill around looking confident and ready. "I've never been to an training camp before," the palpable silence was broken by her nervous laugh.

"First-timer, huh?" Samara replied, already leading the way through the vast area surrounding them. "Well, firstly, congratulations," she grinned. Emily reciprocated her smile and kept following behind her. "And secondly, there's not much to worry about. Pretty much all you'll do is eat, sleep and swim, but you'd be used to that. Everyone always is," Samara remarked, "to have gotten to this level, you need to be."

They pulled up outside of a blue door that read 401, and Samara knocked. "Anyway, your coach should be here somewhere, right? They'll probably leave you a note or something with the time you should start training today."

"Okay," Emily nodded. Samara knocked again on the door, frustrated at the lack of an answer. She gave it one final bang, before a girl who looked to be about Emily's age opened it, one eyebrow raised in annoyance. Emily discreetly gave her a once over, taking in everything from her long, straight brown hair to her toned body to these amazing, piercing brown eyes that dominated her face. They seemed to just draw you in, Emily couldn't help but notice, but before she got too lost in them she felt a harsh stare coming from the girl, and averted her gaze quickly.

Samara shook her head confusedly, and turned to Emily. "Emily, Paige will be your roommate up until you guys leave," the blonde girl looked around while she spoke, as if she had somewhere better to be. "I'll leave you guys to it," Samara walked off with a cheerful wave. Even the camp organiser, in the few hours since she'd met Paige, knew that she wasn't a chick to be messed with.

"Uh, hi," Emily shrugged her handbag off her shoulder and hauled her suitcases into the room. Paige sank back down onto her bed on the other side of the relatively large room and resumed typing on her laptop. Emily frowned and tried again. "I'm Emily, like Samara said."

Paige turned her head to face her, the same pissed off expression as before plastered all over her face. "Paige McCullers," she sighed, as if it were a great ask to make her introduce herself, before turning back to whatever she was doing exasperatedly.

"So, where are you from?" Emily pressed on, hauling her suitcase onto the bed and unzipping it. She reached inside and grabbed an armful of clothes, beginning to hang her stuff up while she waited for an answer from the evidently cranky girl that was to be her roommate for the next six months. "I'm from Pennsylvania," Emily offered, folding up a pair of denim shorts.

Paige turned to her, her demeanour entirely different now. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, borderline squealing. "Me too!"

Emily tilted her head, "really?" She wasn't sure whether or not this girl was being sincere.

"No," she glared at her, the bitchiness making a swift return. "I'm from Boston, okay? Now please," Paige rolled her eyes, "leave me alone. Contrary to your beliefs, Swimmer Barbie, we are not going to be best friends. I'm here for me and that's all that matters."

Emily shrugged dejectedly and returned to unpacking. She'd been here five minutes and this girl had already exhausted her. Ignoring the fact that she was beautiful, Paige McCullers just seemed like a jerk. Emily made a mental note to herself to stay as far away from her as she could – something that would be kind of difficult, considering their close living quarters. It was going to be a long six months, she could just feel it.

_One hundred and eighty days_, she thought to herself._ Just great_.

* * *

Emily found the note from her trainer, June, pretty quickly – she'd taped it to the space above her bed, usually reserved for pictures of family or friends. It read, "Emmy, meet me at the pool by one. No excuses. Training camp begins now, and excuse my language, but this is where it gets fucking hardcore." Emily suppressed a laugh, instead emitting a loud snort. She could feel Paige's eyes, mesmerising as they may have been, judging her silently.

She grabbed her stuff quickly, and left the room without even a goodbye to her new roommate. If she wanted to be a bitch, two could play at that game. Wandering around somewhat blindly, she finally located the change rooms and quickly got into her suit before jogging over to the pool barefoot. June was standing by the stadium seats of the pool, clipboard in hand.

"Hey," the tall, red-haired woman smiled at her. June had been her coach since she was fifteen, and in the past four years since then had grown to be like a mother to her. At times, Emily felt like she was able to admit things to her rather than her own mom, who at times could be judgmental and narrow-minded. Considering the lifestyle of a swimmer, Emily would guess that June knew more about her than anyone else, a fact that she sometimes regarded as unfortunate.

"Hey, June," Emily smiled, hugging the woman with her free arm before dumping her duffel on the floor, under one of the seats. "I'm guessing you have my schedule?" she asked hopefully. There was one thing about Em that everyone knew – she was a stickler for routine. Back home in Rosewood, she'd wake up every morning at the exact same time, and go through the same motions until she went to bed that night.

"I do," June presented her with a folder detailing all her commitments, training sessions and (very few) free sessions for the next six months. Emily pored over it with a grin, her silence being broken by June clearing her throat.

"You gonna get in that pool sometime soon?" the woman asked, running her hands through her long hair.

"Of course," she nodded happily, glad to be getting ready to swim in her first pro session. She stripped off her shorts and rooted around in the bag beside her for a swim cap and her goggles. Pulling them on easily, she stretched out her limbs quickly and efficiently.

"Oh," June shook her head as if she'd forgotten something important. "I almost didn't remember to tell you," she remarked. "Your times from the qualifying meet were good enough to make the freestyle relay."

Emily's eyes widened excitedly beneath her regulation goggles. "Seriously?" she asked happily as she continued to stretch her arms and legs out.

"Yep," June grinned, "you did good, kid. It just means you and the other girls will have a few extra sessions. Not to worry, though," she shrugged, "you can do it. You know, one of the other girls is that roommate of yours. Paige what's-her-name?"

Emily's heart sank. "Now you really gotta be kidding me," she said in frustration, shaking her head before executing a beautiful yet angry dive into the pool. That was just freaking perfect.

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Yeah, yeah, I know nothing really happened but that was just to set the scene ;) Make sure to tell me what you think pretty please, because I love feedback lots and lots.

- Charlotte


	2. You Again

Keep reading please guys! I also love feedback :) :)

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Like I'm Breathing Underwater

Chapter 2: You Again

Emily awoke after her first night at training camp more exhausted than she'd ever been in her life. Half of that, she presumed, was attributable to the constant energy that came with trying to ignore her heinous roommate – Paige barely talked, and when she did it was just rude and unnecessary comments that essentially made her feel like shit. The rest of the time, she just smirked at Emily, judging her quietly. At least, that's how Emily saw it.

She squinted as she lay awake in bed, trying to get rid of the blurriness in her eyes, and peered over to see the time on her digital clock. Quarter to five. In Emily world, that was the perfect time to rise and shine – not too early, and not too late. It meant that she'd still have a bit of time to grab breakfast and avoid Paige before heading to relay training at five thirty. She slipped out the door, in her arms a large bundle of clothes and swim stuff, and padded barefoot away to the dining hall. Meanwhile, Paige cracked open an eye to make sure Emily was gone and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the empty room. It was way too hard being around her, the beautiful girl with the infectious smile. Paige shook her head and buried herself beneath the covers once more. _Five more minutes_, she thought to herself. She knew what she would be dreaming about.

* * *

The time for their first relay training session rolled around quickly enough – Emily had barely managed to scarf down a bagel and change into her swimsuit before she'd been bombarded with texts from June, making sure she knew to get her butt down to the pool by half-past five. She was sitting on one of the tough metal seats by the pool at five forty-five with the other two girls swimming the relay, Molly and Chelsea, when a frantic Paige came running into the room calling out apologies.

"I'm so sorry," she bit her lip, quickly tying her hair up into a bun and stuffing it under a cap. Her coach frowned at her and shrugged, not too reluctant to give her some leeway. After all, it was their first day. Emily saw Paige eyeing her carefully and wondered what that was all about. Paige shook the images from her earlier dream from her mind and slipped on her goggles.

"Okay," June commandeered the session right away, "you girls have been selected for the relay because your qualifying times were the best. Me and Coach Wilson over here are still trying to figure out our order, so right now y'all are competing against each other for anchor. Clear?"

"Clear," Emily replied, knowing her coach's ways, and that she always liked a reply to her questions to make sure you were listening. She nudged the girls next to her and they blinked before mumbling 'clear' themselves. Within a couple of seconds, all four girls were lined up along the pool in separate lanes. June sure knew how to pit them against each other – what better way than to make them race first up? Emily could tell that this wasn't a good idea, but swimming was what she knew for sure, so when June blew the whistle she pushed into the water full force, letting it surround her. She had complete control, her strokes even in their timing and strength, and she felt herself being propelled forward like a dolphin. This was her element. Soon enough, her arm found the cold concrete of the pool wall, and she spun around to see that while Molly and Chelsea were still a few seconds behind, Paige was in the lane next to her looking up at her coach expectantly.

"Who won?" Emily asked naturally, trying not to come across as too competitive, especially around her passive-aggressive roommate.

June smirked slightly, "you did." Emily smiled in relief, proud that she'd kept up with her usual standards, but made sure she wasn't too outwardly ecstatic in case Paige decided to rip her head off. Instead, she felt a tap on her shoulder and her roommate leaned in for a hug. "Good job, Emily!" she exclaimed loudly, before getting closer to whisper in her ear. Emily felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and she couldn't tell if that was because she was scared, or purely nervous. "Watch your back, bitch," Paige whispered, all sweetness and light despite her cruel words. Emily just raised an eyebrow at her cockiness and shrugged. Paige could fuck off, for all she cared.

* * *

That night, Emily lay awake in bed contemplating her day. It had gone fairly well – training, then an early lunch, then a gym session, more swimming, and then finally dinner and free time. She'd called her mom and dad from the back of the dining hall, not wanting Paige to listen in on their conversation, and now she was dressed in her pyjamas (one of her old college t-shirts, from the time before she'd quit school to focus on swimming, and a pair of boxer shorts). Emily rolled over on her side so that she was facing the other side of the room, where Paige was sitting on her laptop typing. Blinking tiredly at the bright light from the screen, Emily couldn't help but wonder what the girl was doing on there. She said an internal 'fuck it' and asked. "Why are you always on that thing?" she propped herself up by her elbow.

Paige glanced over at her, and for a second forgot that she was supposed to death glare Emily all of the time. She didn't want to; she just didn't want the girl getting the wrong (or possibly, the right) idea. She shook her head to herself and pursed her lips bitchily in preparation. "None of your business," she scowled.

Emily rolled her eyes and let out a disbelieving snort before she could catch herself. Paige didn't fight the killer instinct inside of her, and closed the laptop to face Emily. "What's your problem, Barbie?"

"Firstly, I really don't appreciate you calling me that," Emily grimaced at the nickname. She was as far from the perfect girl as was possible, not that she really wanted to divulge to her worst enemy why just yet. "And secondly, you're my problem. I don't usually confront people like this, but," she swallowed the familiar lump in the back of her throat that she always got when people yelled at her, "you've been rude to me since I got here. I never did anything to you," Emily finally sputtered, the tears now welling up in her clear brown eyes. _Ugh_, she thought to herself, _why do I always start crying at times like these_? Not wanting to show the mean girl that she'd won, Emily turned back over in her bed so Paige couldn't see her face. The other girl looked on regretfully. She'd gone too far – all she'd wanted was to make sure she didn't get the wrong idea. Last time she'd been friendly with another swimmer hadn't turned out well for either of them, and since then she'd renounced herself to only being as nice as was necessary. Making friends, Paige had learned, wasn't her strong suit. But now, Emily was crying, and unfortunately, she'd have to fix it.

"Oh, Emily," Paige said dumbly, unsure of what was appropriate. She'd gone and fucked it all up by being a real jerk, and now she was trying to comfort her over a mistake she herself had made. _You're a bitch, Paige_, she thought to herself. "I'm sorry I was horrible to you. Please," she insisted, sitting up in the bed and looking over worriedly, "don't cry."

Emily whipped around. "You did this to me, and now you're expecting me to forgive you because you spout some apologetic bullshit to me?" Her eyes remained full of fat tears ready to drip down her perfect face. "You may be a great athlete, and beautiful, and seemingly pretty smart, but emotionally, you're fucked up. You should know that, Paige."

Paige's breath caught in her throat. "You think I'm beautiful?"

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Oooohhh :) I promise that next chapter isn't going to be all happiness and light from that revelation. All my stories have no conflict and I'm determined that this one will! Now I just need a plot line… ;) Oh and to the person who said that Paige is always the bitch – yeah, I know, but you can't make Emily the bitch! She won't be bitchy anymore, promise. Maybe just moody. PS, all of this is stream of consciousness stuff. I don't know what I'm gonna write until I write it so forgive me if half of the time it's very convoluted.

R&R guys!

Charlotte


	3. Beautiful Girl

Chapter 3 already! Yay!

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Like I'm Breathing Underwater

Chapter 3: Beautiful Girl

_You think I'm beautiful? _

Emily could almost hear the scepticism in her voice, as if no one had ever told her that before. She hadn't meant to admit that, because it probably seemed like she had a shred of compassion for Paige when she didn't at all, but the disbelief in the girl's voice almost scared her.

"That's beside the point," Emily finally breathed out, hoping that she'd just drop it. "You were being a bitch." The tears that were in her eyes before had dissipated and now she was simply angry.

"I-I," Paige stuttered, taken aback. It was, she realised afterward, one of the only times she'd ever been lost for words. "Sorry," she finally managed. Although she said it in the simplest possible form, Emily could tell that she was being genuine – the first real emotion that Paige had shown in the two days since she'd met her.

"It's okay," Emily replied, ready to turn back over in her bed and go to sleep. She gave Paige one last look and turned the light out. Lying there, she swore she could hear the worry in Paige's shallow breathing. It reverberated around the room scarily.

"You know," Paige remarked quietly, snapping Emily out of her own thoughts. "When you came here, I kinda stalked you on Facebook."

Emily snorted a laugh. "You totally did not."

"I did," Paige replied ashamedly. Admittedly, she'd just wanted to know who the otherworldly creature occupying the other half of her bedroom was, but she'd found out a lot more about Emily Fields – some details of which she would have preferred to be in the dark over. "What was it like living in Rosewood?"

"Sheltered," Emily shrugged honestly, her eyes adjusting to the dark already. She turned back over, moving her pillow so she was comfortable, and faced Paige. "It was the strangest combination of a small town and a city. Like, there was about two thousand people, but there was a massive mall with all these designer stores. I always found living there interesting," Emily acknowledged, "that's for sure."

Paige nodded silently. "It sounds nice."

"So does Boston."

"It's not," Paige twisted her lips like she did whenever she wanted to avoid talking about something. "At least, it wasn't for me."

"Why?" Emily pressed. Finally, Paige was being civil – more than civil, instead genuinely friendly – and she was getting to know her. This was more like the vision she'd had of swim camp. Meeting people to take her mind off other things was a big contribution to her decision to come here.

Paige sighed. "Because," she attempted. Even before starting her sentence, she knew she wouldn't be able to finish it. "It just wasn't. You know," she turned over so she was facing away from Emily, "I'm tired. Goodnight."

Emily frowned, confused. This girl was intoxicating – her moods and the constant developments to her character were both infuriating and intriguing to Emily and for some reason, she didn't want to turn away from Paige McCullers. But, she could tell that the girl had had enough. With a sigh, she reluctantly shut her eyes. "Goodnight."

* * *

The next morning, when Emily woke up, Paige was already gone. That was a sizeable feat, considering that when she looked over at her alarm clock, Emily noticed that it was only five in the morning. Either Paige had left super early to avoid her for some reason, or she'd never actually gone to sleep in the first place. Confused, Emily lay in bed for a minute before realising that nothing would put her mind to rest apart from a swim. She quickly changed and grabbed her stuff and headed out the door to the Olympic pool, situated right in the middle of the camp. Walking briskly to distract herself from the crazy thoughts in her head, as well as shake off the cold morning air, she pushed open the heavy door to the pool and dumped her towel to reveal just her swimsuit. Emily dived into the pool, one of her favourite things about swimming, and took off at an easy pace. After a second, the general silence of being underwater was interrupted by a muffled, high pitched noise and Emily felt someone brush past her frantically. She opened her eyes and came up for breath, looking around.

"You could have told me you were here!" Paige sputtered as she rose for breath. She began to choke on some pool water, and Emily swam over without even thinking to make sure she was alright. After a few seconds, her coughing calmed down.

"I didn't know you were here either, Paige," Emily insisted. "I was swimming with my eyes closed, and-" she trailed off.

"That probably wasn't the best idea," she replied drily, hoisting herself up out of the water and gathering her wet hair into a bun. Paige made for the door, leaving Emily alone in the water, but before she left Emily desperately needed to know something.

"Are you okay, Paige?"

The girl whipped around. "Why?" she asked simply.

"Last night, when we were talking," Emily shrugged, "it was like one moment you were there, and the next you weren't. And now you're avoiding me."

Paige closed her eyes in frustration, like she'd been looking for a way around the conversation and had instead, being flung headfirst into it without warning. "I'm not avoiding you."

"Then what do you call this? Waking up before I leave so you don't have to talk to me? Turning over and ignoring me last night when we were in the middle of a perfectly good conversation?" Emily touched a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "If you're not avoiding me, then what are you doing, Paige?"

Paige sighed, wrapping her towel tighter around her as if she needed protection. "Avoiding myself."

"What about yourself?" It was Emily's turn to haul herself up out of the pool and sit on the edge, dipping her feet in the water and waiting expectantly.

"Lots of things," Paige brushed her off. "I look at you, Emily," the thoughts were buzzing around in her brain like hungry bees. _Should I tell her_, Paige wondered, _or should I just leave it alone?_ "I look at you and just marvel at how easy it is," she laughed sadly.

"What's easy, Paige? You're being all cryptic."

"Being yourself. Not having to hide," she flung her arms out wildly, considering all the things that she wished she was able to do, that Emily Fields was able to do. "Being accepting of yourself, and all that."

Something in Emily's brain snapped and she began to wonder. She walked over to Paige, her hair still dripping wet from the pool, and stood right by her. "Are you…" she began nervously, looking into her mesmerising eyes and trying to keep their focus, "trying to tell me something?"

"Of course I am, Emily," Paige replied tiredly, averting the other girl's intense stare. God, she was beautiful and persistent and everything that was right in a person, but she made her mad beyond belief. She was so sure of herself. "But knowing it inside of me and saying it out loud are two different stories. And I'm not ready to tell the second one," Paige finished, exiting the pool without a glance back at the dumbfounded girl she left behind. Emily stared blankly at the heavy door as it swung shut, separating them.

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Whew, that was super hard to write! I really need to start coming up with storylines before I write ;)

Thanks for the reads and reviews so far guys! Please keep them up!

Charlotte


	4. Talk It Out

Thanks for the reads and reviews guys! Keep it up pretty please :) :)

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Like I'm Breathing Underwater

Chapter 4: Talk It Out

The days passed since their awkward conversation at the pool, and Paige and Emily fell into a rhythm which neither of them appreciated much – their interaction consisted of asking one another to turn off the lights, or a nervous 'goodnight' before they went to sleep. Emily couldn't help think that she'd rather they be fighting like before than not saying anything at all. Even though they'd only known each other for a couple of days, it was strange not to talk to her. She felt a weird pull toward Paige.

An afternoon six days into her stay at swim camp, Emily was at the gym in the evening, working her ass off on the treadmill. She needed to stay fit, even though that was pretty much taken care of by all her early morning training sessions at the pool, and the workout helped clear her head. Blasting music loudly in her ears, Emily didn't even notice when someone came up behind her.

"Shit!" she yelled when Paige tapped her on the shoulder. Everyone in the room looked at her curiously before resuming their workouts. Emily slowed down the pace she was running at, and blinking, turned toward the expectant face before her. "Hi," she finally uttered, confused at Paige's presence.

"I'm ready to talk to you," Paige said simply. In the time that she'd had to think to herself, she'd realised that it would be good for her just to talk it out with Emily, to let her know about her life and why she was so angry all the time. "Can we go somewhere?"

Emily stepped off the machine and immediately missed the feeling of pounding her feet to the ground over and over in a run. Running was constant, and easy. Talking most definitely wasn't. "Sure," she finally breathed, giving into everything telling her to do otherwise.

They walked outside of the gym, a building that was separate from the rest of the camp area. A dirt lane, lined with tall oak trees, led the way back to the dorms. Paige started walking along it, her long brown hair flying in the wind, and Emily couldn't help but follow her. It would have taken all of her willpower not to, but she was over fighting.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked as Paige led her along the road.

"Somewhere quiet I know. Where we can talk in private." They kept walking until finally, they came to the massive indoor pool that everyone trained in. The place of their last conversation.

"It's nine at night, Paige," Emily frowned. "It'll be locked for sure."

Paige grinned at her cheekily. Emily realised she'd never actually seen her smile, because if she had, she would have remembered it. It was like someone had turned on a thousand little lights. The girl grabbed a bobby pin from her hair and jiggled it in the lock, the light back door swinging open with ease.

"You wanna sit down or something?" Paige asked. Two-seat benches were scattered around the outskirts of the pool, and they walked over to one tentatively. For once, Paige seemed relaxed, and so Emily took a cue from this and wiped her brain of all worries.

"I finally said it out loud," Paige smiled once more. Emily wanted to tell her to do it again and again, because she'd never seen anything like it.

"Really?" Emily asked. She remembered when she'd first admitted it to herself. "Are you okay with it?"

Paige nodded. "Very. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be."

"It was for me," Emily laughed softly, not out of amusement but reminiscence. "I spent weeks trying to take it back, trying to force myself to like guys."

"Oh, I've done my fair share of that," Paige acknowledged. "In high school, I had three different boyfriends. All of them as repulsive to me as the next."

"Why did you keep going out with them?" Emily crinkled her nose curiously. Paige couldn't help but find her little facial expressions cute.

"Because that was what I thought I needed to do, to change."

Emily nodded slowly. She understood this completely. "But you're okay with it now," she confirmed. One thing she didn't want to do was get into it with someone who couldn't even admit who they were to themselves. Family, friends and other people could wait, but Emily valued self-honesty.

"I'm good," Paige insisted, putting her hand over the top of Emily's, which was resting on her leg. Emily's eyes flicked up to make contact with Paige's, and they held each other's stare for a moment. A smirk finally crept across Paige's face.

"I have an idea," she said mischievously. "But you have to promise me you'll do it before I tell you."

Emily smiled shyly to herself. _What the hell_, she thought. "I'll do it," she promised. Her hand was still firmly in Paige's.

"Good," Paige stood up, untangling her fingers from Emily's slowly and reluctantly. She pulled off the t-shirt she was wearing, and then her jeans, until she was standing in her underwear. Emily's eyes widened, not sure where to look. "Let's swim," Paige suggested with a grin.

Emily had to stop her mouth from forming a round 'o' at the sight of Paige practically naked. She was even hotter than before, if that was possible. Emily bit her lip, and pushed past the insecurities surrounding her. She whipped off her shirt and running shorts and cannonballed into the pool in one swift movement, before Paige had time to gawk at her half-dressed.

When she came up for air, Paige was standing with her arms folded. "That was so unfair," she shook her head, laughing at Emily's innovativeness. "You totally ruined my master plan."

Emily raised an eyebrow playfully. "You're gonna have to come in the water to get what you want," she teased. Paige, in response, dived into the pool gracefully, half a length swimming underwater to get to where she was. She wrapped her hands around Emily's neck, channelling all her courage, and grinned at her. "Hi," she said simply, marvelling in how stunning the girl was.

"Hi yourself," Emily replied. "You know, I don't think I got a good enough look before," she stuck her tongue out at her before quickly pushing Paige gently down underwater. They looked at each other for a second, bubbles floating dizzily around them, and then without thinking about consequences or fear or anything but pure and utter emotion, Emily leaned in and grabbed Paige, kissing her softly. They gasped for air against each other, pushing roughly from both sides to deepen the kiss, before finally resurfacing and breaking apart from each other only because of gravity. Paige breathed deep, taking in the air outside the pool but saying nothing, before putting her arms around Emily and continuing to kiss her. _This_, she thought to herself, _was how it was supposed to feel_.

* * *

This was a fun chapter to write. Leave me feedback about what you want to happen next because I have no idea! :)

Charlotte


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